


Vif argent

by Akudoir



Category: No. 6 - All Media Types
Genre: Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:08:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26448322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akudoir/pseuds/Akudoir
Summary: It's been eight years since Nezumi left. Shion has convinced himself that he will never come back.
Relationships: Nezumi/Shion (No. 6)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Vif argent

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't meant to be a one-shot but I can't say for sure that I'll write another chapter, thought I might post it anyway ^^

Everything reminded him of Nezumi. The smell of warm soup, the mice’s chirping, thunderstorm’s roars, the scent of old books, the buzz of bees waking up in spring, even the taste of cold spring water. He couldn’t tell how many times his heart had skipped a beat at a silver flash at the corner of his eye only to discover a shining piece of metal. 

When Nezumi left, Shion thought the first few months or years would be the hardest ones, and that the more time would pass, the easier it would become. Never had he been so wrong. It was getting harder by the day. In the first two years, of course, he hoped to see Nezumi back, but he knew he needed time. He knew he wouldn’t be back so soon. He thought one or two years would be enough. The third year was filled with hopeful waiting and jumping at any sound or sight that could be affiliated with Nezumi. When the weather was good, Shion always left his window open to let Nezumi in, only to wake up in cold sheets and a desperately empty room. Shion felt all sorts of feelings about Nezumi leaving, but it was never anger. He knew Nezumi had to leave, he had a lot to think and do, but it was still unfair. Shion had been left here, almost on his own, giving all his energy to the Restructural Committee and spending the remaining fragments of strength hoping for something that might never come.

Of course Shion wasn’t alone. He had Karan, Inukashi and Rikiga, and he even made friends at the Restructural Committee. They were great to have a good time with, but it felt futile to try and fill up such a big gap in his heart with these relations. Safu would have been the only one who could have made him feel better, but her loss only added to the loneliness. He even found himself longing for his life in the West Block. Nezumi would scold him for wanting to live in such conditions only to see someone, but he couldn’t help it. He wouldn’t hesitate spending months only eating clear soup once a day and shivering in the cold if that meant spending time back in this crowded room with Nezumi.

Nezumi had always told him he was too hopeful and naïve. It was probably true, for some time. Hope was what kept him going each day during these three years, hoping the next day he would wake up to see Nezumi. But it was slowly fading. Only to break on the day Tsukiyo died.

Shion knew it was only an animal, that it was expected. He wasn’t stupid. He had noticed the mouse getting older and weaker, and he spent more time caring for it. But, this time too, he couldn’t stop death. He never expected it to hurt so much. His heart ached terribly and he had to call in sick for a few days. His mother tried to comfort him by saying Tsukiyo had lived a good life, longer than the average mouse lifespan, but it was no use. She knew it too. Shion wasn’t only mourning the animal. When the mouse died, the last thread linking him to Nezumi had snapped.  
Nezumi promised he would come back, but a promise couldn’t ward a gun off someone’s head, or illness from a body. At least Shion knew for sure Tsukiyo was dead. Maybe would he spend his whole life hoping to see Nezumi back even though the latter has died a week after leaving. He would never know. So it might be better to lose hope. 

Shion entered a sort of routine. Work took almost his whole life, and he felt better off like this. He knew it worried his mother, Inukashi and Rikiga who did a lot to support him, but after a while Shion simply turned down their offers which became rarer and ceased. He told them he was busy. It wasn’t entirely wrong. At least the Restructural Committee was working well. At least there was something he wasn’t messing up.

When came the time to choose a new president for No.6, Shion was too young to participate but one of his friends got chosen by the people. For the five years of the first president’s mandate he kept a close advisor role, getting an inside view on the power mechanics and taking down any threat to democracy he could find. He felt useful and valued, he was living up to the promise he had made, unlike someone else. But even when he focused on his work, dived into it and only slept three hours per night, Nezumi was always there. Lingering in the back of his mind. He couldn’t get rid of it, even if he was now fully convinced he was dead. 

Going out and sleeping with other men didn’t make his bed less empty. He looked for someone who could fill this void, even a little, but they were never enough. They were all smart and nice, Shion genuinely thought they were good people who had a lot of interesting things to tell. When they were too different from Nezumi they weren’t what he looked for, and when they were too similar, they only felt like pale copies. But they all deserved better than someone looking for what’s irreplaceable. These relationships never lasted long.

The current mandate was now reaching an end and this time, Shion participated to the elections as a candidate. Physically he hadn’t changed much. It had been almost eight years since Nezumi left, he had grown taller and cut his hair shorter but his red snake and almost transparent hair were the same. His eyes, however, had changed. They still had that same purple color, but the glimmer of curiosity that made their gaze so lively was gone. It was replaced by a quiet observant light that was nowhere as beautiful.  
Shion came back from work rather late as usual. He rented an apartment in No.6 near the Moondrop that had everything he needed. As he walked in the bedroom, he found his current boyfriend in the bed, still awake. Shion smiled lightly. Fake smiles had become a habit. At first it was hard and felt like a lie, but practice makes perfect, and now he found himself smiling a lot naturally, to the point of wondering which were fake and which weren’t. He found it ironic that, he too, had become a good stage actor.

“Good evening Shion, did your day go well ?” The man on the bed asked with a smile.

Shion took his tie off and walked up to the man to kiss him. 

“It did, thank you. Very busy and tiring so I’m glad to be back home.” He said softly. 

It wasn’t a lie. He genuinely enjoyed coming back home to that man, Saichi. He was smart and knew Shion wasn’t planning to build any long-lasting relationship with him, but they still enjoyed each-other’s company. It was rather well balanced.  
As Shion was about to unbutton his shirt, the doorbell rang. As sigh escaped from his lips and he stood back up. He could never catch a break, but he wasn’t complaining either. He smiled to Saichi. “It’ll only take a few minutes.” Shion said, to which the man chuckled. “Hopefully it won’t be like last time when it took an hour !” He replied teasingly. 

Shion walked in the hallway and opened the door to what he figured would be a journalist or one of his advisors who liked to drop by. His eyes looked up slightly at the man standing in front of him and locked with his gaze that seemed to read in his heart like an open book. A pair of silver eyes.


End file.
